Really?? Interesting, I would think live would startle the snake even more? Although I will say this, when my BP went on her hunger strike I tried F/T rats, live rats, different colored rats, mice of all kinds, nothing... but when I put a live gerbil in there? It took her about 5 seconds. I hear gerbils are their favorite, but it may just be due to a higher prevalence of them in Africa.